Wednesday, February 1, 2017

The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green - Historical Fiction Bethany House [Review & Giveaway]

My thoughts: If you're a history buff, you will love this book. If you're not really "into" history, this story will grab your attention and give you a new appreciation for the people who came before you and I and settled in this land of the free.

In 1719 life in Paris, France was either good if you had the money, or terrible and inhumane if you had no money. Being accused of dastardly crimes took only the word of a jealous person to land you in prison and marked for life. There was no recourse, until, the King wanted to populate the Louisiana (named after King Louis) area. So prisoners were given the choice to stay in prison or go to Louisiana but the catch was they wanted to populate the land so that meant as a Catholic nation that the settlers must be married. So prisoners were matched, chained, married, and shipped.

Life in Louisiana was as hardscrabble (or mud-scrabble) as it could get. There wasn't enough food, there was war with the British and war and terror from the Indians. There was corruption amongst the French which caused their problems to magnify. And there was love and there was life.

Jocelyn Green is a consummate storyteller and a persistent historian who researches tenaciously the times and settings of her stories. The result is a choice read that doesn't disappoint.

About the book: Life in this new world requires more strength than she ever imagined.

After the death of her client, midwife Julianne Chevalier is imprisoned and branded, marking her as a criminal beyond redemption. Hoping to reunite with her brother, a soldier, she trades her life sentence for exile to the fledgling French colony of Louisiana. The price of her transport, however, is a forced marriage to a fellow convict.

New Orleans is nothing like Julianne expects. The settlement is steeped in mud and mosquitoes, and there is no news of her brother, Benjamin. When tragedy strikes, she turns to military officer Marc-Paul Girard for help, but does he know more about her brother than he will admit?

With her dreams shattered, Julianne must find her way in this dangerous land, where only grace---and love---can overcome the stigma of the king's mark upon her shoulder.

Meet the Author - Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage as the award-winning author of ten books to date, including Wedded to War, a Christy Award finalist in 2013; Widow of Gettysburg; Yankee in Atlanta; and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she coauthored with bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman.

GIVEAWAY ~ FLASH
Begins February 1
ENDS February 9 12:01 a.m. EST
Open to USA addresses only.
Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2iKM4uj   
More information about the book and other reviews - click here.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Litfuse Publicity Group on behalf of the author and publisher, Bethany House, to facilitate  a review of my own opinions. I was not compensated.

4 comments:

  1. Uh oh...your sidebar photo link to the Martin Luther King book goes here. Thought you should know.

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  2. And, the Rosa Parks link goes here too.

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  3. Thank you for the chance to win a wonderful sounding book by an equally wonderful author! I'd be so excited to win!!

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  4. Definitely pinning this for later! Thanks for sharing!

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